With genetic experiments and raging mutants aplenty, Paula Fleri-Soler takes a behind-the-scenes look at Rampage.

In 1993, a breakthrough new technology, known as CRISPR, gave scientists a path to treat incurable diseases through genetic editing. In 2016, due to its potential for misuse, the US Intelligence community designated genetic editing as a Weapon of Mass Destruction and Proliferation.

Like movie fans around the world, Rampage director/producer Brad Peyton loves to see Dwayne Johnson in terrifying, larger-than-life scenarios that require the actor to use all his skill and strength, humour and charm to overcome.

Peyton has already placed his intrepid star under a volcano on a sinking island (2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) and dropped him into the epicentre of a magnitude-9 earthquake (2015’s San Andreas). 

Now, in their third big-screen adventure, the director ups the ante again by pitting Johnson against something he has never faced before, an antagonist even bigger than he is. And not just one, but three – gargantuan, genetically mutating creatures, completely out of control, on a collision course with civilisation. 

Johnson stars as primatologist Davis Okoye, a man who keeps people at a distance but shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, incredibly rare albino silverback gorilla who has been in his care since he rescued the young orphan from poachers. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. 

To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals. As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with discredited geneticist Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris) to secure an antidote. He fights his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend. 

Johnson is up for the challenge.  “Brad and I are like a couple of kids when we get together on a project like this,” he says.

“Art always reflects the artist, so I think fans can count on great action and great fun, and a fair amount of destruction. We always want to push things farther than we did before and to constantly raise that bar. Or possibly go over it.”

Harris concurs: “There were lots of wow moments, and so many sets that just blew my mind. That’s the wonderful thing about Brad, Dwayne and the whole producing team. At the centre of everything they want to make you feel that it’s all happening right here, right now, and that you’re really in the heart of the action.  And that’s what the audience will see.”

Among the interests Peyton and Johnson share that factored into Rampage are an affinity for movies about ferocious giant creatures and an affection for the classic video arcade game of the same name. The latter features a trio of supersized creatures knocking down cities and running wild over the landscape.  Also, there was the commitment to anchor this kind of outsized cinematic spectacle with a genuine story and characters.

Though the arcade game was the original spark of inspiration, it didn’t provide a lot beyond its pure and simple premise, which suited Peyton perfectly.

“I was interested in the challenges and opportunities that came from the game,” he says. “But, the fact that it had so little narrative allowed us to make our own movie, create our own monsters and explore our own themes.”           

Johnson and Harris lead a strong ensemble cast, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a cagey government agent shadowing Davis and Kate’s progress throughout the crisis; Joe Manganiello as the leader of a top-notch mercenary unit who meet their unfathomable match in a Wyoming woods; and Malin Akerman and Jake Lacy as the billionaire siblings behind the rogue experiments, who are still intent on using this pathogen for their own ends.

The screenplay is by Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse, Ryan J. Condal and Adam Sztykiel, from a story by Engle.

Truth or Dare

Also showing

Truth or Dare – Olivia, Lucas and a group of their college friends travel to Mexico for one last getaway before graduation. While there, a stranger convinces one of the students to play a seemingly harmless game of truth or dare with the others. Once the game starts, it awakens something evil.